Spitzer, Legislature agree on tentative budget

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Legislative leaders tentatively agreed Tuesday night to a budget of more than $121 billion that would add about $1 billion in total state and federal spending, but is expected to result in a spending plan passed by Sunday's start of the fiscal year.

The agreement would restore more than $350 million in Mr. Spitzer's $1.3 billion in proposed health care cuts including funds hospitals and nursing homes said they needed to avoid layoffs. But the deal would include $1 billion in cuts and preserve Mr. Spitzer's plan to dramatically reduce the annual growth in Medicaid costs.

It would also add $500 million to education, including more money to Long Island school districts and increased operating aid for districts statewide. Under the plan, more districts would get larger boosts in aid with high-needs, urban schools getting the largest increases. That would raise the current school aid total of $17 billion by nearly $2 billion.

The proposed budget would provide $1.3 billion in property tax breaks that Mr. Spitzer sought, but in the form of direct rebate checks to property taxpayers sought by the Senate's Republican majority.

The tentative 2007-08 deal must be approved by the Assembly and Senate and voted into budget bills by Saturday to be in place for the start of the fiscal year.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno cautioned that tentative agreements have fallen apart before. He also said many other smaller issues haven't been settled because Mr. Spitzer and leaders have focused on the major areas of education, health care spending and tax cuts.

"There's always the possibility that things could go amiss," Mr. Spitzer agreed. "If it were easy then it would be done faster, sooner and it wouldn't be as much fun.

The Legislature has passed on-time budgets in the last two years after 20 straight years of missed deadlines, which became a symbol of Albany dysfunction. Late budgets create fiscal uncertainty for school districts and delay funding for nonprofit groups that run social service programs.

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